Ideas for a gaming table

[thebinmann]

Right I have now moved in and got my 18 sq metre games room (plus guets bedrrom) so I need a table that can fold away quickly.

My initial thought is this from Ikea


http://www.ikea.com/fr/fr/catalog/products/90071168

http://www.ikea.com/fr/fr/catalog/products/10118971

Starting with two boards to make 1.5m by 1.5m and building to larger in the future, any other better options out there (I'm in France)

thanks

[Sangennaru]

looks quite perfect for what you need, really! the moving legs are perfect if you want to use foam boards instead of wood!

and maybe you should put a grid on the white surface!

[Westfalia Chris]

That does indeed look good! An added bonus, you can put it away when not in use and thus reduce the level of flak you'll get from your long-suffering wife for having too much stuff taking up room...

Seriously, though, I think that is not unreasonable - metal IKEA stuff is in my experience quite durable (I still have a TV stand somewhere which I bought some 15 years ago), and although you'd be looking at 100 Euros in total, which is acceptable, given that you can use the tables in other ways, too.

That said, you could possibly save some if you got just some wood boards from a DIY market instead of a dedicated tabletop. But if you get the proper tabletop, you can use it for other occasions, too (parties, for example, when you have to set up a buffet - collapsible tables of ca. 75cm depth are very good for that). So you might be better off getting a set of the above and adding some game boards on top of that for variety.

[dampfpanzerwagon]

I think this is a great starting point and agree that a grid system on the white board would give you multiple options - in fact spray paint the other side Black (with starts) or Blue and you could have sea battles - space battles on them.

Use a grass mat for 28mm wargames.

Tony
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/

[Cosmotiger]

I think those are the same Ikea tabletops I use for my table.  Instead of the trestle legs, I use the screw-on legs, however.  Something similar to this:
http://www.ikea.com/fr/fr/catalog/products/S79831622

The one difference between the two setups is that with the screw-on legs, there is no chance of accidentally knocking the table top off the leg assembly.  Usually adults won't have this problem.  Usually.     But if you have kids around the table, study is better.

[traveller]

I use three of those for gaming on threstle legs. The boards are quite heavy though and a bit cumbersome to stash away, but apart from that they will last a lifetime. 

[thebinmann]

Yeah I saw the screw in legs but I like the idea of the adjustable threstles for possible sit down games, stand up war games and buffets lunches all of which require a different height....

[Verderer]

I just assembled my table made from three 120 x 60 IKEA Vika (Fault in Finnish...) tables. I also bough a drawer desk underneath to store small stuff in. Those take some leg room under the table, so didn't want to get too many. That is, if you want to sit down when playing, we do. The legs are the cheap metal ones which screw on and off. It's a pretty handy setup. The 150 cm long setup would have been a tad too long for me at the moment. I might get a 4th table though to remove when not needed. This IKEA stuff is certainly the cheapest option for getting a game table around these parts. And the tables I chose are very light (hollow), so it's easy to move them around and all.

On thing to consider is the leg setup because these are quite narrow tables (more so with my 60 wide ones), so you can't put a chair under the table between the legs on the narrow side, you know? So it pays to set the tables with long sides together, and sideways ones on the end. Also, you can't really attach the legs anywhere else other than the preset places in the corner, as the tables seem to be rather hollow elsewhere. One consideration if you want to think of clever ways to set up the legs. But with trestles this isnt' relevant of course.

[Argonor]

I just assembled my table made from three 120 x 60 IKEA Vika (Fault in Finnish...) tables.

Ikea is famous for this... They also have some kind of box called 'Knep', which means 'f*ck' in Danish.